Dermatology Clinic

The Coastway Dermatology Clinic is based at Kemp Town and is headed by Charlie Walker
BVetMed CertVD. Charlie qualified as a dermatologist in 1999 when he was awarded
the postgraduate Certificate in Veterinary Dermatology by the Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons.

Dermatology advances

Skin (and ear) disease represents a major component of the small animal practice
workload and forms one of the most common, frustrating and challenging areas of
clinical companion animal work. There are continuous advances in veterinary dermatology
including improved understanding of underlying disease processes, recognition of
new diseases, advanced diagnostic techniques and innovative treatments of both established,
common and newly emerging, exotic diseases. As a dermatologist it’s essential to
keep up to date on the ever expanding and changing field of treatment around the
world in order to bring ‘cutting edge’ knowledge into our consulting rooms.

With the addition of a certified dermatologist to the Coastway team we are able
to provide a much better service for our clients. Charlie is able to give advice
on a day-to-day basis to the other associates on individual cases and to work with
them to improve recognition, diagnosis and management of dermatology cases. He also
offers an internal referral service as well as accepting external referrals from
neighbouring practices in the South East of England. His is the first permanent
veterinary dermatology service in East Sussex.

The consultation process

The initial consultations are up to ninety minutes long with follow-up consultations
of thirty to forty-five minutes. Before these consultations Charlie gathers and
collates the historical information on the course of the skin problem to date. The
consultations involve an extended discussion plus full clinical and dermatological
examination. Some tests are performed during the consultation and other samples
may be taken for further analysis at external laboratories. Intradermal testing,
with intravenous fluorescein disclosure (and/or serological testing) is undertaken
for atopic animals. Advice sheets detailing further treatment plans are provided
and case discussions with the referring veterinary surgeon take place. A full summary
report is also produced for the referring vet, usually within 24 hours.